KEVIN KYLE is desperate to prove to Scotland coach Berti Vogts he is the man to partner Scotland's No 1 striker Kenny Miller.

Kyle, 22, is in the best form of his life after scoring six goals in his last seven games for Sunderland.

The big striker will miss Scotland's defining Euro 2004 qualifier with Lithuania on Saturday through suspension.

But he reckons he is on the verge of breathing new life into his Scotland career after showing Vogts his penalty box prowess in recent weeks.

Kyle said: "Berti Vogts told me that he kept looking at Sunderland's results and it said, 'Kyley no goals.' He thinks I'm Kylie Minogue!

"But I told him I was prove to him that I could start scoring goals, and he will pick me for Scotland because he does like me.

"When I first played for Scotland, in Hong Kong, he took a shine to me. I was slated for not scoring goals, but now I'm scoring there's no reason why I can't be picked.

"Kenny Miller scored about 20 goals for Wolves in the First Division last season and he's Scotland's No 1 striker.

"If I can score as many goals as that, I could partner Kenny Miller up front for Scotland.

"My time with Scotland will come; I've got plenty of years ahead of me. But I'd like to know if I would have been in the senior or Under-21 squad this weekend if I wasn't banned."

Kyle's goals have brought an end to a lean spell at Sunderland that had seen him fail to score for the club in the League until last month.

He was pilloried for his failure to open his account, but now he reckons many snipers have been silenced.

Kyle said: "I've answered some of the criticism. If I keep scoring goals and playing well, the criticism will go away - but you're always going to get criticised in football whatever you do.

"You have to take the good with the bad. I've had critics in Scotland ever since I made my debut.

"I was meant to be the next best thing after Hong Kong, but I was hammered after the Faroe Islands game and it hurt.

"It's a big motivation to prove those people wrong; I enjoy making people eat their words."

l Former Middlesbrough manager Bryan Robson has been confirmed as Nigeria manager for next year's African Nations Cup after agreeing a six-month contract.

Robson has been out of football since being sacked by the Teesside club in June 2001 but has ended that exile by pipping Henri Kasperczak and Alain Giresse to the Nigeria job.

The African Nations Cup takes place in January and February next year and Nigerian Football Association president Ibrahim Galadima confirmed Robson's appointment.

He said: ''After consultations with our sports minister, we can now say that Bryan Robson will be in charge of the national team for the 2004 Nations Cup finals.

''We expect that he will arrive in the country in the shortest possible time to begin preparations for the tournament."